


Shadowboxer

by liziscribbles



Series: Flaws [1]
Category: Code Vein (Video Game)
Genre: Canon-Compliant, F/M, Hinted Male Protag/Louis, Mild Tsundere, The Frey Twins Are A Mess, Twin Protagonists, semi-character study
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-13 21:57:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21004799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liziscribbles/pseuds/liziscribbles
Summary: You've made me a shadowboxer baby,I wanna be ready for what you do.What was it about Yakumo Shinonome that turned Aria Frey into such an idiot?





	Shadowboxer

What was it about Yakumo Shinonome that turned Aria Frey into such an idiot?

She knew there was no reason to be like this. He was a decent guy. Nice, funny–though she would be loath to ever admit the latter aloud–and he always protected the group well. She'd lost count of the times he'd thrown himself in front of enemy blades to protect Aria, or her twin brother, Rin. He rushed headlong into danger to keep them safe. So why couldn't she smile and show her gratitude like a normal person?

Instead, as they explored the drippy caverns of the depths, Aria made a point to avoid his gaze.

The Lost in this section of the depths were practically a joke, at this point. One single shot from Aria's bayonet was all it took to take these weaklings down. Because of that, when Aria spotted a treasure chest down a side path, she had no real qualms with leaving unannounced to go find what was inside.

Rin always got upset with her when she did "reckless" things like this, but what harm would it really do?

It took exactly three seconds for Aria's hubris to catch up to her.

The first sign that something was about to go wrong was the sound of a bayonet firing from behind her. The second sign was said bayonet's shot impacting the wall to her left. The third was Louis' distant shout of "invasion!" from much further away than Aria anticipated. How had they gone so far, so fast? She'd only taken a few steps, and–

"You ready? They're close."

The voice took Aria by surprise. In fact, the only thing more surprising than the voice itself was its carrier.

"Yakumo? What're you—"

He shrugged nonchalantly, before readying his greatsword for an attack. "Saw you wandering off on your own and figured I'd follow to make sure you stay outta trouble."

'Thank you' is what any normal person would have said under the circumstances. In fact, it's what Aria wanted to say.

Instead, as she raised her bayonet, she stayed quiet and fired at the closest Lost she could see. The shot made it dissipate into a cloud of haze, and Aria smirked in triumph as she felt the haze absorb into her. She turned her head toward Yakumo, who cut down a group of three Lost in a giant, spinning flourish. His strength surprised her sometimes. Sure, Aria was _capable_ of using a greatsword if she used the right blood code, but she'd always found the giant weapons unwieldy and uncomfortable to use. She preferred the speed and range of bayonets any day.

Still, there was something a little hypnotic about watching Yakumo whirl around and completely destroy a group of lost. It put his strength on display, and it was sort of attractive, too—

As soon as the thought crossed Aria's mind, she shook her head sharply. Not only was getting attached to _anyone_ in a world like this a really stupid idea, but it _couldn't_ be Yakumo. The way he'd bristled when they first met, treating her and Rin like they had no place in the group? Maybe Rin could forgive that, but Aria was nothing if not resolute. She would sooner turn to ash than let someone like that get under her skin.

She quickly lifted her bayonet and fired on another lost, approaching Yakumo from his blind spot. The sound of the impacting shot made Yakumo jump a little, and when he glanced over his shoulder in surprise, she flashed him a cocky smirk. Once again, it didn't take long for her hubris to get the better of her.

"Aria, watch out!"

Yakumo's voice barely had a chance to register in her ear. In fact, the last half of his declaration sounded almost like it was covered in static. A pair of lost appeared behind her and one of the ugly ones in its stupid red mask hauled back to kick her with all its might. The impact of its foot sent her careening into the stone wall of the cave. She hit with a dull thud, grunted, and pushed herself off to retaliate. Dodging backward twice, until she was right next to Yakumo, Aria lifted her bayonet to fire, only to realize that she was completely out of ichor.

"Son of a..." She seethed as she checked her pockets for an ichor concentrate. Empty. She'd used her last one fighting the poison butterfly. All she had was a vial of pure blood, and she didn't want to waste that on a small hoard of Lost.

Yakumo glanced sidelong at her. "You need something?" he asked, before blocking an incoming sword.

Aria shook her head. "I can handle it," she answered. Without a second thought, she charged forward and swung her bayonet out to slash at whatever Lost was in her reach.

Unfortunately, no matter how efficiently she was cutting down the Lost in front of her, she wasn't a machine and couldn't see _everything_ happening around her. Which was why, as she finally lifted her bayonet to shoot at another massive Lost rushing around the corner, she was completely unaware of a second Lost raising its own bayonet and taking aim at her from behind. In fact, she stayed unaware until she saw Yakumo rushing past her in a flourish and taking up a defensive position behind her. A loud, metallic ricochet hit her ears, and as soon as the large Lost had dispersed into a shimmering cloud of haze, she whirled around to see what was happening.

Yakumo had blocked the oncoming attack, as well as a second and third shot, and followed up by rolling forward and knocking the bayonet Lost to the ground. He finished by plunging his greatsword into its chest, before turning back toward Aria.

"Looks like the end of it. You good?"

It was another perfect opportunity to express her gratitude. All Aria would have had to do was say 'thank you.' Then, she could go check on Rin, and then come back and see what was in the chest. Unfortunately, her brain and her mouth weren't in agreement, as usual.

With a nod and a huff, she averted her gaze from Yakumo's. "Yeah, I'm fine. I gotta go make sure Rin and Louis are okay—"

"Aria!"

Rin's voice came from around the corner and jumped her clear out of her skin. Aria turned toward the sound, and was unable to fight a small smile when her brother and Louis appeared at the end of the small alcove. She expected no less from either of them, but it was still good to see that they were okay.

She waved, and rushed a few steps forward to meet her brother halfway. "You guys alright? Need healing, or—"

Louis shook his head. "No, we're okay. Your brother is quite a capable fighter," he mused.

It would have taken a blind person to miss the way Rin's cheeks flushed, and Aria's lips quirked up into a grin in response. "Well duh," she answered casually. "Badassery runs in our blood."

Rin chuckled. "So, what are you two doing down here? Did you run off on your own again, Aria?" he asked, his voice not hiding his disapproval.

Embarrassment flooded Aria's features as she met her brother's gaze, and she was about to admit that yes, it was, in fact, her who'd run off on her own and accidentally alerted the horde, but she didn't get the chance.

"Nah. That was me, actually. Sorry about that. Saw a chest down here and wanted to come see what was inside, but I ended up alerting the horde," Yakumo spoke up instead. Aria tensed and looked over her shoulder as Yakumo strode up beside her, carrying a new bayonet that he offered out to her. "Aria saw me in trouble and came in to save my ass. It was worth it in the end, though. Here, Aria."

Aria stared at Yakumo in shock as she reached for the bayonet. Why was he taking the blame for her? _He_ was the one who'd saved _her_ ass—twice, for that matter—and it would've been so easy for him to just... let her get owned by her brother for her recklessness. Somehow, it seemed like he felt no hesitation in taking the blame for her. What was his deal? No one was _that_ nice.

Luckily, in spite of her doubts, his willingness to take the blame for her was what finally managed to pull some gratitude from her. "Uh... thanks."

"Fair's fair. Now c'mon. The key's gotta be around here somewhere," Yakumo announced as he headed to the front of the group.

Louis arched an eyebrow. "I feel like I'm missing something."

The slight grin on Rin's face led Aria to believe that he'd gotten the wrong idea somehow. "That's okay. They're entitled to their secrets, right Aria?" he asked, elbowing her in the ribs affectionately.

Aria blinked, then shook her head adamantly. "There's no _secret_, Rin!"

"Whatever you say, Aria."

As Rin walked away and Louis followed, Aria was left standing in the alcove with her thoughts. As long as she existed, she was decently sure she would never understand men. Of all men, she came the closest to understanding Rin, but even _he_ was a mystery to her sometimes. Yakumo Shinonome, though, was the most mysterious of them all. If he was so suspicious of Aria and Rin, why was he being so nice to them now? Why was he willing to throw himself in the line of physical and emotional fire for them, if he—

Before her mind could cycle too much further into questions, Rin's voice echoed down the alcove again. "Aria, are you coming or what?"

She shook her head sharply, quickly putting an end to her thought process. It was a good thing, because she _really_ didn't want Yakumo to find his way any further into her mind or under her skin.

"Uh, yeah! I'm on my way!"

**Author's Note:**

> SO. I blame [Nada](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueCrownFics/pseuds/BlueCrownFics) 100% for getting me so sucked into this game and fandom. It wouldn't have been nearly as fun if we didn't co-op it.
> 
> When I first showed up in her game and our two characters looked so similar, we immediately decided they had to be twins. As we played the game, we got more and more attached to these stupid disaster twins and now we have like... WAY TOO MANY headcanons for them. I would say I'm sorry, but I'm really not, 'cause I'm having a blast.
> 
> Nada wrote some Louis/Protag (with Aria's twin brother Rin), called [Trepidation](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21004757)! You should check it out! :D


End file.
